THE TREE OF LIFE

"Molecular clouds gather to form galaxies."
"A large asteroid slams into the Earth."
"Our sun has become a white dwarf."

There are descriptions of celestial imagery on the official website for Terrence Mallick's newest film, The Tree of Life, starring Brad Pitt and Sean Penn.  Years in the making, this enigmatic director's epic created a lot of buzz at the 2011 Cannes Film Festival.  Described as an impressionistic story of a Midwestern family set in the 1950's, but covering big issues like the meaning of life,  Malick consulted with NASA  for footage of the cosmos and other grand imagery seen in the film, according to a Los Angeles Times article.  Visual effects coordinator Dan Glass said images from the Hubbell space telescope were used by a group of advisers and consultants. "They were a team of people meant to ensure this was scientifically accurate," he said.

From science to religion to mythology there are many uses of the term 'tree of life'.  Scientists refer to the tree of life when describing how all life on Earth relate to each other in an evolutionary context.

Read a Time magazine piece here.